kids education suffering media doom and gloom

[Saltings]

I fail to see a problem teachers and kids have been off for weeks a few have been on a rota for critical care workers kids  

we have the entire summer holidays to catch up as not able to go abroad / take a holiday  / book a holidays  at the moment 

time to dig deep  and put down time to good use    if safe to do so kids don't fall behind      the summer holidays can be used to catch up as nothing else to do 

if any one complains       you have been sat at home for weeks on full pay  (some doing work on line )   (  some doing nothing)  (some one day a month)

as on lockdown the holiday period can be swoped as other family's just getting back to work and struggling to make ends meet would benefit  from back to school as cant afford holidays  not to mention rent or food 

the NHS  has dug really really deep maybe its the time  teachers    are  not so belligerent and do their bit   and give the time off back instead of summer holidays  as going no where soon  the kids will benefit  come September 

I have reiterated this to 4 members of my extended family in teaching two agreed  to help if called upon  and excited to get back to work       however     two argued why they shouldn't  give up their summer holidays    it didn't go down well     

 

 

[hod]

Don’t think teachers who have all been working to some extent, will be giving up their holidays... never mind going back with a shambles of social distancing.

Although, if they’re willing to help, you could enquire with your teaching relations about this punctuation malarkey. 
 

😀

[toontastic]

2 hours ago, hod said:

Don’t think teachers who have all been working to some extent, will be giving up their holidays... never mind going back with a shambles of social distancing.

Although, if they’re willing to help, you could enquire with your teaching relations about this punctuation malarkey. 
 

😀

As I've mentioned on another thread, a couple of teachers were talking about returning to work and both agreed it shouldn't happen until a vaccine becomes available.

[markm]

I’ve yet to find a single teacher who won’t return to work, with some level of protection. I don’t expect full medical kit, but enough hand gel to go round and a change of procedures would be nice (as well as support from parents / the wider community.....)
 

As for not working?  I’m not doing 8 hours a day (probably around 3) with google classroom, daily planning for next year with Covid / no Covid, email, meetings online and making PPE for frontline workers (I worked every week day, full days of the school Easter break (including Good Friday and Easter Monday).

 

I’m getting paid 100% and I’m doing a lot more than a lot of furloughed employees who are getting 80% for doing SFA until October. 
 

The photo below is staff in a covid ward using PPE that I made for them. They sent it as a thank you. 
 

@SaltingsCan I ask what you do?

Edited May 15, 2020 by markm

[Raja Clavata]

Perhaps not just the media...

I came indoors from my man cave, come home office, for the 10pm news last night to be told by the other half that my 17yo had been contacted by his six form college tutor to ask if he wants to continue with his A levels or not - apparently the question was prompted by his low attendance.

The low attendance reflects a bug he had in Feb this year and the fact that late last year he was mugged for his phone by a group of local scrotes whilst travelling home from college - shook him up and he didn't attend college for a week or so.

Once I've spoken to my son this morning, to understand his version of the convo, I will be straight on the phone to the tutor and if necessary college head to try to get to the bottom of this nonsense.

I have an awful lot of respect for teachers and lecturers, so I will not prejudge before I understand the facts but I'm at a complete loss to the logic behind the call and question from the tutor since he has really upped his game this year and got A to A* projections based on his mocks. If this turns out to be based on attempts to thin out the class I will be escalating through the local education authority...

[millrace]

Sorry but at some point the teachers need to be told who pays their wages,get back and stop making up excuses....the science tell you it's safe so get on!!!.....

Or as I heard this morning .... oh but some are old,are over weight have diabetes  or are looking after others,,,,,right if you not "fit for purpose"...get rid....

Real world were all the same but teachers well their always just that "little bit better"!!!!!!......

[blackbird]

1 hour ago, toontastic said:

As I've mentioned on another thread, a couple of teachers were talking about returning to work and both agreed it shouldn't happen until a vaccine becomes available.

Ok we should all take the same attitude all NHS & key workers down tools till vaccine is found.

Edited May 15, 2020 by blackbird

[toontastic]

9 minutes ago, blackbird said:

Ok we should all take the same attitude all NHS & key workers down tools till vaccine is found.

Unfortunately there are probably a small minority who would happily sit at home on full pay and do nothing. Like any situation you'll always find someone willing to exploit it. Look no further than the 800 companies who've been caught out making furloughed staff work for their money.

[Mice!]

3 hours ago, Saltings said:

any one complains       you have been sat at home for weeks on full pay  (some doing work on line )   (  some doing nothing)  (some one day a month)

Reading this I'm guessing you have no young kids at school? My kids have been doing work every day,  the teacher is setting work marking the work and doing videos, sending comments to individual kids so they feel like the work is worthwhile doing. 

My kids are lucky though because my misses is a TA and clever, she's also been working on a rota.

I do think for some kids some sort of summer school would be good, some kids won't be doing any work because the parents aren't interested or able to help, but it would probably need to be done voluntarily,  the unions are already kicking off over whether schools should be reopening at all, telling them that they have to work through summer won't go down well.

Obviously if the schools can reopen people can go back to work but with the furlough scheme running till October I doubt the schools will rush to open??

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, and what if there is no vaccine available for months ahead, a year, then who do you give priority over other workers, do you give to the 70 million in uk, of course there will be people happy to sit at home on furlough, but then there will be many many companies go bust if this pandemic continues so those on furlough will just end up unemployed, its already happening, 

[Mice!]

1 hour ago, markm said:

As for not working?  I’m not doing 8 hours a day (probably around 3) with google classroom, daily planning for next year with Covid / no Covid, email, meetings online and making PPE for frontline workers (I worked every week day, full days of the school Easter break (including Good Friday and Easter Monday

Top work fella👏👏

31 minutes ago, millrace said:

Sorry but at some point the teachers need to be told who pays their wages,get back and stop making up excuses....the science tell you it's safe so get on!!!.....

Or as I heard this morning .... oh but some are old,are over weight have diabetes  or are looking after others,,,,,right if you not "fit for purpose"...get rid....

Real world were all the same but teachers well their always just that "little bit better"!!!!!!......

Really?? So your expecting people in an at risk group say diabetes to be told work or your sacked??

Get a grip.

[oowee]

My brother is a TA he has been working on rota throughout. Also setting and chasing homework doing vid's, cleaning classrooms, arranging ppe, cooking dinners the works. He reckons most teachers want to work but simply the school is set up for full classrooms and they cannot work to the guidelines given. Trying to get small kids to do the social distancing thing is not as easy as it sounds and as a result they are forced to take risks that were not part of the job. 

If this is the new norm we have to do a lot more than simply make do and mend. 

[Retsdon]

1 hour ago, markm said:

I’ve yet to find a single teacher who won’t return to work, with some level of protection.

But don't hold your breath waiting for anyone to either notice or comment on this sentence. 

 Always looking for others to blame. Always looking for others to put down. Always standing a'top a tiny little midden, crowing and preening.

It seems to be the new British style.

[toontastic]

5 minutes ago, Mice! said:

👏👏

Really?? So your expecting people in an at risk group say diabetes to be told work or your sacked??

Get a grip.

Covid doesn't go away, no vaccine available. Do we pay peoples wages forever.

[WalkedUp]

No other industry has 35 people in a space smaller than my living room, rotating every 45 mins. Many schools are 2000+ pupils on one site and so are bigger than most businesses. Children do not obey instructions for hand washing, social distancing or even not touching other’s belongings. Many children are asymptomatic and so the virus will spread like wildfire. 

 

Teachers are not concerned about their safety or cushy life but because they are not idiots and can see a disaster coming. Most teaches are still working, albeit at reduced capacity.

I’m not a teacher, but also not a fool.

[Mice!]

5 minutes ago, toontastic said:

Covid doesn't go away, no vaccine available. Do we pay peoples wages forever.

No not at all, but at the moment you can't tell someone with underlying health problems they have to work.

Walked up, his post above nails it, what oowee says is spot on, I spoke to my misses last night, I know the rough plan for getting just 3 classes back into school under the current guidelines and its likely to take the entire staff and school to make it work. 

I've only missed two weeks of work,  my misses has worked a rota and worked from home, if she goes back then both my kids will be back in and we are fine with that, but it needs to be done right, not rushed.

[millrace]

16 minutes ago, toontastic said:

Covid doesn't go away, no vaccine available. Do we pay peoples wages forever.

This!!!!!

[markm]

We have 1200 students and around 100 staff in during the day. If our school was an office, there would be a max of 200 people  It’s a new build.   Classrooms are (approx 60m2). But 25-30 people in it and try and social distance. Students  have always sat together in school, within mm of each other. That’s how it’s (used to) worked for a very long time. 

[toontastic]

1 minute ago, Mice! said:

No not at all, but at the moment you can't tell someone with underlying health problems they have to work.

Walked up, his post above nails it, what oowee says is spot on, I spoke to my misses last night, I know the rough plan for getting just 3 classes back into school under the current guidelines and its likely to take the entire staff and school to make it work. 

I've only missed two weeks of work,  my misses has worked a rota and worked from home, if she goes back then both my kids will be back in and we are fine with that, but it needs to be done right, not rushed.

But no matter what job you do there's always those who'll milk the system not just teachers. You'll always find a few who really don't give a ****. I've mentioned 2 teachers who will happily take full pay and never go back until a) covid 19 is gone or b) there's a vaccine. But I could probably speak to 100 others teachers before I find someone else with the same attitude.

As I said about the 800 bosses caught by HMRC there'll always be people who'll exploit a situation.

My partner works in a care home and she'll happily tell you about the carers who get a job and just don't give a ****, likewise my stepdaughter who also works in a care home with staff who just don't care. But they also both work with amazing caring people.

 

[Mice!]

9 minutes ago, toontastic said:

As I said about the 800 bosses caught by HMRC there'll always be people who'll exploit a situation.

Absolutely,  I worked at one place and before I started people were being told because things were really hard they were only getting three days wages but still working 6 days a week, anyone doesn't like it tough you can leave now.

12 minutes ago, toontastic said:

My partner works in a care home and she'll happily tell you about the carers who get a job and just don't give a ****, likewise my stepdaughter who also works in a care home with staff who just don't care. But they also both work with amazing caring people.

Always the case unfortunately,  and its normally the #### you hear about.

13 minutes ago, toontastic said:

But no matter what job you do there's always those who'll milk the system not just teachers. You'll always find a few who really don't give a ****. I've mentioned 2 teachers who will happily take full pay and never go back until a) covid 19 is gone or b) there's a vaccine.

There is a big difference between saying someone can't work at the moment because of Asthma or diabetes and someone just refusing to go back into work.

[oldypigeonpopper]

30 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, and what if there is no vaccine available for months ahead, a year, then who do you give priority over other workers, do you give to the 70 million in uk, of course there will be people happy to sit at home on furlough, but then there will be many many companies go bust if this pandemic continues so those on furlough will just end up unemployed, its already happening, 

as for UK education there is no easy solution to make sure everyone can stay safe

[Saltings]

On 15/05/2020 at 09:22, oldypigeonpopper said:

as for UK education there is no easy solution to make sure everyone can stay safe

I agreed      but if everyone stops whinging and works together going forward     out of some bad some good comes      only by working together positive changes can be made      

[Bumble]

I’ll happily go back into to work (not that I’ve stopped working at home or in on the rota system for keyworker’s children), but not until precautions have been taken to reduce risk. This hasn’t been done yet.
The NEU has published the ‘Five Tests’ (https://neu.org.uk/neu-five-tests-government-schools-can-re-open) and these are wholly sensible measures that need to be met before reopening. It’s nothing to do with teachers being lazy, we just don’t appreciate our lives or those of our families being out at risk unnecessarily. 
 

With regards to being on full pay - yes we are, because we’ve not stopped working! We had 48hrs notice to completely change the way we work and from what I’ve seen, stepped up to that admirably. Work has continued to be set, be it live lessons on Teams or self-guided project work. Pastoral care is ongoing (meaning I spend hours on the phone each week, checking on vulnerable students’ welfare), GCSEs have been graded in a completely new way to us that took untold hours to ensure were fair, school has been open continuously (including through Easter hols & will be over half term) so that keyworker children can be looked after. School dinners are still being distributed to those who need them most. Much like @markm, I’ve also been using school tech to manufacture PPE for local hospitals, having now made & donated over 300 full-face visors. 

Still don’t  like that we are being paid? Furlough us at 80% then, and see what happens when we do nothing at all. 


It is rather galling that as soon as teachers refuse to toe the gov’t line, for what seems to be an entirely economic decision rather than a safety one, we’ve gone from being heroes to vilified by certain sections of the gutter press (The S*n & the Daily Mail especially) and the dregs who, for some reason, read & believe what they write. 
 

Finally, ask yourselves this; if it is safe to go back in June, why isn’t Eton returning until September? 

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Bumble

[treetree]

1 hour ago, Bumble said:

Finally, ask yourselves this; if it is safe to go back in June, why isn’t Eton returning until September? 

 

And will politicians be returning to Parliament on 1st June?

[Bumble]

39 minutes ago, treetree said:

And will politicians be returning to Parliament on 1st June?

And will their kids be returning to school then too? 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Bumble